"O God, I could be bounded in a nut shell and count myself
a king of infinite space,
were it not that I have bad dreams."
- Hamlet
Act II scene ii

22 February 2016

Johnson

Kum bay ya, my Lord, kum bay ya!

In England we have a right wing politician called Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson or "Boris" for short. He was born in America and spent his privileged school years at Eton before moving on to Balliol College, Oxford where he gained an upper second class degree in Classics. He played rugger and was also a member of the notorious and exclusively upper class drinking and dining society - The Bullingdon Club.

For some reason that I cannot figure out, the British media have put Johnson on a pedestal. We are led to believe that he has "character" and voter appeal with his unruly mop of white-blonde hair and his over-excited misuse of the English language. Some say he is destined to be our next prime minister. In my opinion, he has been given and continues to receive far too much airtime. It is as if the media have made him.

In 2008, Johnson became the elected Mayor of London. On the face of it, you would imagine that in leading the governance of one of the world's major cities he would have more than enough on his plate. Twenty four hours a day and seven days a week would surely never be enough to get everything done.

But no! In May 2015, Johnson became the Conservative MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip - representing more than 72,000 electors in parliament and presumably dealing with his constituents' endless issues. And this is what I don't get - How can somebody be both Mayor of London and an MP? To do both jobs effectively is surely impossible.

On Sunday, the media scrum were waiting outside Johnson's West London townhouse to find out which camp he intended to join ahead of Britain's European Union referendum to be held on June 23rd. In or out? Johnson announced he would join the "out" campaign.

It was in that moment that my vote was suddenly magnetised towards the "in" box - despite my many instinctive misgivings about what Brussels and Strasbourg have done to our country in the name of European unity.

It's just one big spin doctored con, they throw in an Asian female, that's the male Muslim vote and the closet racists gone, mr gove, the teachers and anyone he's ever grinned at gone , ids that's the welfare vote gone , now they've chucked in boris just to scare any sentient human being away. Sorry not falling for it , but many will

Ah, not I get it Kate. It is all a cunning plan. In secret Downing Street talks, Johnson agreed to join the "No" camp as it was judged that his support would guarantee that the "Stay In" camp win in the end! Very clever.

Buffoon or not, YP, the media love him (well, let's face it, they love any idiot who will give them a laugh or two) and it would seem that his electorate - as both Mayor, and an MP, also love him. In each case perhaps the alternative was too horrifying to contemplate. Like the thought of Corbyn as future PM - or Trump as U.S. President.Agree with Adrian that Boris should have nothing to do with your decision on how you vote.

I think that Adrian is heavily influenced by his idol - David Cameron and even has his image sprayed on the back his camper van. He has The Queen and Prince Philip on the sides and Nicola Sturgeon on the front.

Well, if you vote for exit, YP, you'll no longer be a European citizen. Just plain old British (again) and therefore have no say in European matters, something which may well be to the detriment of the future prosperity of the UK.

The British public quite like their politicians to be buffoons and the likes of Call Me Dave/Tony are just too clever by half. But why the media should think his views on anything is in any way representative is beyond me. Boris is no better than Jacob Rees-Mogg, 'the honourable member for the early 20th century'.

I didn't even know that Johnson is an MP in addition to being mayor. How is that possible?! It was interesting the way the media branded his Brexit opinion such a momentous announcement. I suppose he does have his following, but still -- he's just one guy.

Brexit as a whole seems a bad idea to me -- together always seems stronger than going it alone. But then again, I'm an immigrant, so what do I know? :)

I've been sitting here in the sun and 30℃ temperature and thinking of ll sorts of (hopefully) erudite and constructive comments but frankly the whole scenario of world and UK politics scares the shit out of me at the moment. The pool is looking very inviiting. No.I'm not going to end it all. I'm just going to have a swim and ignore everything for the moment: particularly BJ and Trump.

Mr Pudding welcomes all genuine comments - even those with which he disagrees. However, puerile or abusive comments from anonymous contributors will continue to be given the short shrift they deserve. Any spam comments that get through Google/Blogger defences will also be quickly deleted.